LCS Picks: A 2020 Rematch But For Real This Time?

Alright, not my finest hour in the LDS, but a chance at redemption! After a 1-3 showing, I’m determined to flex some sort of “expertise” here for baseball’s finest four. With a looming lockout, let’s all hope this postseason is a memorable one and, maybe just maybe, has a fairytale ending.

Let’s dive in:

NLCS

(2) Dodgers vs. (1) Brewers

Here we go again. A year after sweeping the Brewers and rendering a 97-win team hapless, the Dodgers are hellbent on a threepeat before the lockout possibly affects them more than any other team. Will this year truly be different for Milwaukee? They lack pop (28th in homers) and any viable rotation options after Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson to counter four dominant aces in Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow. The bullpen edge that Milwaukee may have had is offset by the return to form of closer Edwin Diaz.

Hitting-wise, all eyes are on Shohei Ohtani and whether he can conjure up his magic from last year’s NLCS (remember the three-homer, 10-strikeout game? Of course you do). Even with a slightly-off-kilter offense, the Dodgers simply have too much pitching, too much experience, and too much of a hex on a Brewers franchise they have dominated in three previous postseasons to the tune of 10-3 in 13 games. I believe Milwaukee will get a couple games, but that’ll be all for the 103-win Brew Crew. Pick: Dodgers in 6.

ALCS

(2) Guardians vs. (1) Rays

Somehow, some way, the Guardians are here. First-round bye they probably didn’t deserve with 85 wins? Check. Inferior ALDS opponent while the Rays faced the league’s second-best team in the Yankees? Check. But this cute-little-engine-that-could act by the Guardians always has a ceiling, and this is it.

Offensively, the Guardians lack punch. They came alive in Games 3 and 4 in Chicago, and their pitching completely shut down the ChiSox by exposing their inability to make consistent contact. But guess what? Tampa Bay is the league’s best team at putting the ball in play, and even with two very good starters in Parker Messick and Gavin Williams and a lights-out closer in Cade Smith, the Rays can counter all of those and more. Drew Rasmussen is possibly baseball’s hottest pitcher, and Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez aren’t far behind. Bryan Baker may be the AL’s closest thing to Cade Smith, and the Rays have to be feeling awfully good after wiping the floor with New York.

Cleveland always proves us wrong to an extent, but the talent discrepancy will show over the course of a seven-game series. Here’s predicting a rematch of the asterisk 2020 World Series, only for real this time. Pick: Rays in 6.